Date Nights and Boy Fights
by Nicolette134
Summary: Might become a series of one shots, but for now I've only got the one written. If you know me, I've got a knack for starting something strong, but a lack of motivation to finish things, so don't expect much! P.S. It's Lucaya, of course!
I was finally attending the first college party I'd actually been invited too, and my date with Josh was going great. That is, until I noticed Lucas and Zay walk in to the house.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, stalking up to them angrily. How dare they come and try to mess up my night with Josh!

"Chill, Maya," Zay smiled his signature grin, "Everything's gonna be fine; we just stopped by because Lucas here wanted to check up on ya, but now that we see you're fine we'll just be going."

"Who are these douchebags?" asked a guy from the couch. I vaguely remembered being introduced to him earlier in all this, I think the house we were in was his.

"We just came to check on our friend," Zay smiled brightly, "And now we'll be on our way."

"Excuse me?" the guy asked, untangling himself from a blonde in a low cut crop top to stand up to his full height- he was taller than Lucas, which made me, and Zay, a little nervous. It certainly didn't help that Lucas was clearly blasted. He didn't typically drink, but when he did, it was _not_ a pretty sight. Not for everyone, but especially me, since it was usually _my_ house he got stashed at, since Katy was less likely to notice than, say, Topanga. He'd thrown up in my bed more times than I'd like to think about.

"He said we came to get our friend back," Lucas said, taking a step towards the guy, "We're taking her home. She's still in _high school_ , you know that? I wonder how many other girls in here are underaged."

"Listen, I don't know who the hell you think you are," the guy got in Lucas' face, "But you can't come in here and start accusing me of things. So why don't you take your little friend and get the hell out of here."

"That's a swell idea," Zay agreed, but Lucas' shoulders were squared up and I could tell he was going into Texas-Lucas mode. Usually this is entertaining for me, but today was _not_ one of those times.

 _Dammit,_ I thought to myself, _This is_ not _gonna end well._ I tried to catch Josh's eye, and instantly regretted it. As soon as I did, I wished I hadn't; he looked pointedly at me, as though accusing _me_ of causing the mess that we were about to get into. Like I had anything to do with Lucas, or any capacity to stop him. He nodded towards the two boys, in fact, as though it were my job to fix this thing before it got out of hand. Shouldn't _he_ be rushing in to defend me, instead of taking a backseat and letting Lucas do it? How come real life never plays out like the TV shows?

I surveyed the scene in front of me. The guy looked really big right then, chest puffed out, fists clenched, and I felt an unmistakable lurch in my stomach. Either I'd had one too many tequila shots, or this was something else. Concern for Lucas perhaps? I'd seen him handle himself in some difficult situations - despite all his attempts to be the "new Lucas", sometimes a little of that Texan spirit slipped out- but this guy was in _college_ for Pete's sake, and it seemed like he might've spent quite a few years here at that. He was older, and bigger, and certainly _drunker_ , which can either be an advantage or a disadvantage in these situations.

Either way, and I'm man enough to admit it, I was worried about Lucas. I couldn't let him get into another stupid fight, especially one he might not win, and besides, I was the whole reason he was here anyway. I didn't need that kind of guilt on my conscious.

I started walking over to them, and I waved off Zay when he tried to stop me. When I got there, I realized I had no idea what to say. I had never tired to break up a fight before, usually I jumped right in and joined the action. This is probably why Lucas and I aren't allowed out together without supervision.

"Um, hi," I said, standing between the two of them. Suddenly, I just wanted to go home; I was tired and the music was too loud, "We have to leave."

Lucas pushed me out of the way. "Get the hell out of here, Maya," he said darkly.

The guy looked me up and down, a lecherous gleam in his eye, before asking, "Who is this? Your baby sister?"

"No. I'm Maya," I told him, as though that explained everything- and maybe it did, "My friend and I were just leaving."

"Oh yeah?" the guy asked, eyebrow cocked, "You can't leave yet, things are just getting fun. See, I'm about to kick this guy's ass."

"Don't talk to her," Lucas said disgustedly. The guy laughed, but I could tell he wanted a fight just about as bad as I did. It didn't matter that this guy was bigger than Lucas; it wouldn't have mattered if he'd been a 25 foot brick wall. Lucas was looking for a fight and he wouldn't be satisfied until he got one, and I think this guy could sense it. Plus, the aforementioned booze seemed to be slowing the older boy down, whereas Lucas was practically vibrating at this point.

I'd never seen Lucas _quite_ like this before, and like I said, I've seen him pretty bad in the past. Tonight though, he was running on all cylinders- like a soda bottle someone shaken and left out to explode on the next poor soul who crosses his path. Of course, I'd also never been at the helm of one of his disasters, and right now I had a front row seat. Maybe this is why Riley hated Texas Lucas so much, his intensity was scaring me a little; I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

The guy kept looking at Lucas, and then back at me. Shaking his head, he said, "Maya, you better get this little boy home before I change my mind."

Lucas didn't move.

I put my hand on his chest, something I had never done before. We were plenty physical with each other when we were younger, sure, but not since high school, since we'd grown up. There was an unspoken boundary, between the two of us more than any of the others. This felt, almost intimate, and neither of us were ready to go down _that_ particular rabbit hole. His chest felt solid and warm; I could feel his heart beating, fast and out of control. _This is Riley's job_ , I thought to myself again, s _he's the one who calms him down. I'm always_ encouraging _his Texas-side._

"Can we please just go home," I pleaded, but it was like Lucas didn't even notice me.

"Listen to your girlfriend, kid," the guy said.

"I'm not his girlfriend," I retorted, glancing over to Josh, who had no expression on his face. Then, I looked back at Zay, helplessly.

He made his way over to us, and said something to Lucas, something I couldn't hear over the din of the party, despite of my close proximity- they both towered over me, having only grown since middle school. I'd stayed at four-eleven, never earning than extra inch, and I was a whole foot shorter than Zay. I refused to know how tall Lucas was, because I didn't need that kind of negativity in my life, but I know he's even taller than Zay. Fuck me, right?

Lucas shook his best friend off, but Zay kept talking to him, his voice low, until they both looked down at me. I realized then that it was me they were talking, but I didn't care what Zay was saying, because, after a moment's hesitation, Lucas finally nodded his understanding.

He half jokingly made like he was going to hit the other guy, who only rolled his eye, despite looking visibly relieved.

"Good night, douche," Lucas said to him, always having to get in the last word.

The guy waved him off before giving me on final, parting, glance and heading to the keg for another drink. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

As we walked back to the car, Josh grabbed my arm. "Are you okay to go home with these guys?" he asked me.

Lucas whirled around and said, "Would she be okay going home with you?"

"Ranger Rick?" I said harshly, "Shut up already. You've done more than enough tonight."

I shook my head at Josh and said, "I'll be fine, don't worry. I'll call you."

"Who's going to drive?" he asked. He looked worriedly at Lucas.

"I am," Zay said, and Lucas didn't argue with him. "Don't worry, I don't drink and drive."

I could tell Josh was bothered, but he didn't say anything. I wanted to make things okay, so I hugged him quickly, before adding, "Thanks for tonight."

I watched him walk away, and I felt a stab of resentment towards Lucas and his stupid temper for ruining my first real date, and with a guy I really liked. It just wasn't fair.

"You guys get in the car, I'll go get your stuff Maya," Zay said, following Josh back into the house.

Lucas and I got into the car silently, even though a second ago it'd been too loud to hear, and the silence wasn't comfortable like it usually was. It felt eerily quiet, and I felt like I might be sick, even though I hadn't had much to drink.

He lay down in the backseat, all of his energy from before gone now, while I sat shotgun, with my bare feet on the dashboard, my shoes abandoned under the seat. Suddenly, I felt Lucas touching my hair, running his fingers through the bottom, all he could reach from his position.

I think I might have stopped breathing. In that moment, something fell over us, some imperceptible, but very evident change.

"Your hair is like a little kid's," Lucas said, barely above a whisper, drunk, but still aware of the magical spell over that had been cast over us, "It's always so messy, ever since we were younger. I like that it never changes."

"Things do change though," I replied, not moving away from his long, slender fingers, which I knew like my own. I knew every callous from his farm work in the summers, every scraped knuckle from every fight, every scar from his botched roofing job last summer.

"I don't want it to," he said, sounding so young and different from the cocky boy he'd been in the living room moments ago, "I don't want things to ever change between us, Maya."

A shiver ran down my spine, but I didn't say anything. I couldn't even look at him, or else he would've seen the tears pricking at my eyes. That's when Zay came back, opened the door, and got in, slamming it shut in the process, waking Lucas and I from our dreamlike state, and causing him to let go of my hair.

Zay looked at me funnily, and I could tell he knew that he'd walked in on something from his self-satisfied smirk. I only shrugged my shoulders at him and reached over to turn on the radio. He knew better than to ask.


End file.
